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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24721030">Nightmares</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KellyJade/pseuds/KellyJade'>KellyJade</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Killing Eve (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:55:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,589</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24721030</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KellyJade/pseuds/KellyJade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Eve's been having nightmares, and she's about to find out why.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eve Polastri/Villanelle | Oksana Astankova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>164</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nightmares</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For the third time in the past two weeks, Eve wakes up gasping, in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat.</p>
<p>Her heart hammers in her chest as she attempts to orient herself, get a grip on her surroundings. The dark room comes into focus - unadorned walls, plain dresser, bedside table. Clothes draped over a chair. Expensive looking clothes.</p>
<p>Eve looks to her left, registers a blonde head of hair. And then movement, as the blonde in question rolls over, awakened by the commotion. "Eve?" The voice is raspy with sleep, and is <em>oh</em> so familiar.</p>
<p>"It's okay," says Eve in a low voice, heart still beating furiously but her bearings returning to her. "Go back to sleep - I just ... I guess I had a nightmare."</p>
<p>But Villanelle is awake, rolled over onto her stomach and propping herself up on her elbows. Her hair is pulled back behind her head and pieces stick out messily. Her eyes search Eve's face. "Again?"</p>
<p>Eve is surprised by that observation. "Yeah," she says, frowning slightly. "You noticed the other ones? I thought you didn't wake up."</p>
<p>"I noticed," replies Villanelle simply in her clipped Russian accent. "One of the perks of staying in tiny hotel rooms with one bed is that I have become very in tune with your sleeping patterns."</p>
<p>Eve makes a small noise of acceptance at that, and then adds - "We could have got two beds."</p>
<p>As her eyes adjust to the low light, Eve watches Villanelle sit up - cross legged and facing the headboard, with her body angled toward Eve. She laughs quietly. "Eve," she says, smiling a little mischievously. "We were never going to get two beds."</p>
<p>Eve feels her stomach twist a little with that (Villanelle is so <em>direct</em>) - and concedes with a small laugh, glad the dark hides the blush she can feel in her face. Although the blonde probably is fully aware of it anyway - they know each other so pathologically well.</p>
<p>If Eve is honest with herself, it is that more than anything else that has made the last two weeks the strangest of her life.</p>
<p>The bridge - the two of them turning to face one another for one last look, unable to resist. Eve recalls the moment, recalls the burn in her chest as she walked home alone after, repeating in her head to be strong, this was the right choice...</p>
<p>Recalls her phone ringing the second she walked into her tiny apartment. "I am bad at this," the Russian accented voice in her ear. "But do you really want to stay away from me, Eve?"</p>
<p>And she recalls answering that question with her address.</p>
<p>They had quickly realized if they were going survive long enough to figure out a next move, they couldn't be staying anywhere associated with either of them. They left Eve's apartment the next morning, found a hotel. "We will have to switch them," Villanelle had said at the front desk of the first one, waiting for the clerk to return with the key. "Every few days."</p>
<p>Eve remembers that moment specifically because a piece of hair had just fallen into Villanelle's eyes, and Eve had watched her push it back. Had felt something twist in her chest as she stared, at her fingers, her ear, her eyes, her mouth...</p>
<p>'<em>Shit</em>', Eve had thought.</p>
<p>And then a billion moments more. </p>
<p>She had of course spent time with Villanelle before, but never like this. There had always been this mental block before - her strict personal insistence that yes, she needs to be around this dangerous, beautiful assassin, but only for the *mission*, for national security, for this reason, for that one...</p>
<p>It's a whole different ballgame now that she has jumped headfirst and willing into the cold water - recognized that ever since she saw that first crime scene photo and thought 'Who <em>did</em> this?' - ever since then it's only been about one thing. And now she has left everything behind for it.</p>
<p>"Eve?" </p>
<p>Startling out of her thoughts, Eve looks back at Villanelle. "Sorry," she says. "Just disoriented, still, I guess." She frowns. "It's weird, I don't remember anything about the dream. I just keep waking up uh... terrified."</p>
<p>Villanelle is silent for a second. Eve searches her face, and it is unreadable. </p>
<p>"Villanelle?"</p>
<p>There is a pause, and then blonde looks away before speaking. "This happens, sometimes," she says finally.</p>
<p>Eve feels a jolt at the tone in her voice. It's the same one she's heard at the ballroom, the one that holds a shocking note of both sobriety and pain. "Hey," says Eve immediately, and she leans closer to the younger woman. "What do you mean?"</p>
<p>Still staring fixedly at her own pillow, Villanelle speaks again. "Sometimes it is nightmares," she says, and her voice betrays nothing now. "No specific dream, just this feeling when waking of ... being scared."</p>
<p>Eve frowns. "You have the nightmares?"</p>
<p>"No," answers Villanelle, quickly looking Eve in the eye before glancing away again. "Others. If they stay the night around me, often I will notice it." She waves a hand toward Eve. "They wake up in the cold sweats. And shaking." A muscle moves in her jaw and her eyes are so far away. "Often they shake."</p>
<p>Eve just sits there, and looks at her, still not understanding. "Villanelle?" She finds the blonde's hand, and holds it. And waits.</p>
<p>And the younger woman sighs, and looks directly at Eve now. "Not always nightmares," she continues. "Sometimes they tell me it is just that feeling of ... you know when you feel like someone is following you? When you get chilled and you don't know why?"</p>
<p>Slowly, Eve nods. "Like the hair sticking up on the back of your neck?"</p>
<p>"Yes," nods Villanelle. Her eyes are hard and intense. "The feeling that you should be scared. Should run."</p>
<p>And then Eve thinks she understands. "Oh... so my nightmares..."</p>
<p>Villanelle sighs, and gives a pained half smile. "Your body is telling you there is a predator around," she says simply. "On the plus side though," she adds, "this means you have excellent instincts."</p>
<p>The wheels turn fully in Eve's head. "Oh, Villanelle."</p>
<p>"I know it is freaky," says Villanelle quickly, looking away now. "I understand if you -" but she is then cut off by Eve gripping her in a very sudden, tight embrace.</p>
<p>A moment of relative silence.</p>
<p>The words muffled - "Eve, this is the opposite of what the nightmares are saying to do."</p>
<p>It's as if an unstated tension in Villanelle's voice has broken - Eve laughs and pulls back, and she sees that a darkness has lifted from the younger woman's face, the expression there now replaced with her patented sardonic grin. "Like I'm going to let my dreams tell me what to do," Eve quips back. </p>
<p>Villanelle smiles. "You are very headstrong."</p>
<p>"I am." Eve has not let go of Villanelle's hand, she realizes. She squeezes it, and takes a steadying breath, before speaking more seriously. "So, that was some intense information to get," she says. "How do you... deal with that?"</p>
<p>The blonde looks away to gaze vaguely at a wall, pondering. "It warns some people to run away, which did make them harder to kill sometimes," she says.</p>
<p>There is a short moment where Eve wonders for the umpteenth time 'Why did I just <em>have to</em> have the assassin?' "Villanelle. Not helping."</p>
<p>After quickly meeting Eve's eyes in an unspoken concession, Villanelle takes a deep breath. And then... "Well, it reminds me on a pretty consistent basis that I am a psychopath," she says finally.</p>
<p>The sentence hangs in the air. "I thought you didn't like that word," says Eve quietly.</p>
<p>Villanelle meets her eyes. "I don't." </p>
<p>There's quiet for a moment longer, and Eve says the only thing that comes to her mind. "That sounds really hard. I'm... I'm sorry."</p>
<p>A shadow of something imperceptible flashes across Villanelle's face. "Your reactions are really strange, Eve."</p>
<p>Eve chuckles, and then lets out a breath. "Listen, you don't have to talk about it right now, because I'm sensing that maybe you don't want to." She doesn't leave time for Villanelle to react to that, but rather moves her body a bit closer, and looks her plainly in the eyes. "I want you to know though, that I really don't care about the nightmares. God knows I've had the opportunity to run away from you, you know?"</p>
<p>Villanelle smiles faintly. "Thank you, Eve."</p>
<p>And Eve smiles back for a moment, before nodding towards the pillows. "Let's get some sleep?"</p>
<p>The two of them lie back down, and just as Eve is ready to close her eyes again, Villanelle moves suddenly, rolling over to face her. Eve glimpses green brown eyes for a very brief second, and then she is being kissed.</p>
<p>It's so sudden that she barely has time to comprehend what is happening, but feels her body respond, kissing back. It's simple, and warm, and feels right.</p>
<p>It's the first time they have kissed since the bus.</p>
<p>Villanelle pulls back fairly quickly, and Eve can see she keeps her eyes closed for a moment or so after. Eve tries to memorize every part of her face in this moment.</p>
<p>They don't say anything else that night, just fall asleep together, and wake up the next morning.</p>
<p>They don't talk again about the nightmares for a while - Villanelle doesn't seem quite ready. But Eve notices that every time she has one, Villanelle cooks breakfast the next morning.</p>
<p>It's always inhumanly delicious.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed! This was fun to write.</p>
<p>Please leave a comment if you can and let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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